Workshop 3: Creativity develops Empathy & Insight
“ Visualizing user attitudes and behaviors in an empathy map helps teams align on a deep understanding of end users. The mapping process also reveals any holes in existing user data.””
Main Point: Creativity allows for deeper understanding the target audience.
Time Break Down:
Lesson Overview – 10 minutes
Video – 15 minutes
Exercises – 30 minutes
Assessment – 5 minutes
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson we are going to be using the previous skills we have learned, creative confidence, visual thinking, divergent thinking and convergent thinking. When you combine these factors you have the main base for design thinking.
As we continue to learn how visual thinking allows for emotional expression, we will use these skills to further our understanding of empathy. Empathy is to see the world through the eyes of others (Brown, p. 56). This is vital for companies and teams to understand. If they want to improve their user experience, then they need to improve their user understanding.
Another important step indeveloping user insights is deciding who your main users are. The main way to do this, is research your demographic and pick three personas of a typical user.Once that is decided the real creativity can get to work.
CREATIVE EXERCISES
Empathy Map
A. Pick a user persona.
B. Write their name in middle of the empathy map.
C. More instructions are on the worksheet.
Super Hero Trading Cards
Target Audience Understanding: Super Hero Trading Cards: Most companies and brands have 3 identified target personas. If you don’t, take some time right now to make them. Pick one of the personas and create a super hero trading card. Make large super hero trading cards for this persona.
1. Pick a target persona (It could be the person you just did on the empathy map).
2. Use a ¼ sheet of 8.5 x 11 paper and make a small super hero trading card.
3. Include things like what is amazing about this person and what are some
unique traits and stats. (5-10 minutes).
4. Discuss some of the imaginative avenues different members took.
